End wall for railway cars



Jan. 16, .1940. G, G, G P.N l 1 2,187,025

' I-:rmA WALL FOR RAILWAY cms Filed April l. 1937 2 Shqets-Sheet 1 zz DI o a o a u o o D o o o o o D fraz/sinfn Jan. 16, 1940. s. G. GIL-.PIN 2,187,025

END WALL. FOR RAILWAYY CARS v Filed April 1, 19317 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 16, 1940 PATENT OFFHCE END WALL FOR RAILWAY CARS Garth G. Gilpin, Riverside, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Application April 1, 1937, Serial No. 134,210

4 Claims.

The invention relates to end walls for railway cars which are made of metallic plates or sheets `formed with a plurality of substantially parallel and sinuous corrugations to provide a plurality lof beams extending between the opposite side walls of the car so as to transmit horizontal loads imposed thereon, such as caused by a shifting load, to the side walls of the car. Such a construction is generally shown in the patents to Small No. 1,681,811 and No. 1,681,812 of August The sinuous corrugations open up under stress like an accordion pleat, thereby'giving resiliency to the end wall structure. This yielding causes 'a bulging of the structure which pulls the corner posts of the car inwardly or toward each other, and as these corner posts are rigid frame members of the car, they are necessarily quite stili", therefore, such inward deflection frequently gives 2l) them a permanent set, thus preventing the bulged end from returning to normal position.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide exible means between the usual corner posts of the car and the corrugated metallic end 25 wall so that when the corrugated end wall is deflected under a horizontal thrust, the means will flex or yield without disturbing or distorting the corner post and furthermore so that the corrugated end wall will return to normal position 30 without permanently distorting any of the car parts associated therewith.

Another object is to attach such exible means to parts of the car so that the relative flexibility of their middle and end portions is substantially 35 commensurate with amount of flexing caused by the relative amount of bulging of the corrugated end at the middle, top and bottom thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. l shows the end of a railway box car .40 equipped with my improved device.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1. 45 Figs. 5 to 11 inclusive show modified construotions.

The drawings show the usual Z bar corner posts 2 and side wall sheathing 3 and lining 4 which form a part of theside truss to carry part of the weight of the lading and the car to the body bolsters and which also resist the lateral thrust of the lading when the side wall acts as a retaining wall, therefore, the posts must be 55 very strong and rigid. Each post is secured to (Cl. 105-410) l the side plate E of the car and also the side sill l of the car.

An extension plate 9 is secured to each sidev wall, preferably to the corner post 2, and has a ,y portion ill extending beyond the corner post (5y and in substantially the same plane as the side wall. This extension plate3 is also preferably attached to the side plate 6 and side sill l. y

The metallic end sheet l I extends between y, and is secured to the portions Il] of the opposite 10' extension plates. The metallic sheet Il also extends between' and is secured to the end plate,

i2 and end sill i3.

The metallic sheet (or sheets) is formed with ,i a plurality of sinuous corrugations l5 which 15 merge into the sheet it adjacent the portions it of the extension plates. The sheet is preferably provided with a ange Il overlapping and secured to the extension plate.

In this arrangement when the end wall deflects outwardly the extension plate flexes inwardly but the corner post remains rigid and straight.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 5 the extension member til is formed with an outwardly extending embossment (or corrugation) lll parallel to the adjacent post 2, which embossment preferably merges into the extension plate adjacent the upper and lower margins thereof. The embossrnent 24 may project inwardly, as shown in Fig. 6.

Under horizontal load the corrugations in the end wall will open -up and allow the end wall to deflect and the greatest deflection will occur substantially midway between the top and bottom of the end wall and consequently the yielding or the pull in of the extension plates will be greater substantially midway between their tops and bottoms than elsewhere. In other words, my constructions allow the extension plates to yield commensurate with the yielding of the end wall. Furthermore, as the tops and bottoms of the extension plates are anchored they offer some resistance to deflection thereof which tends to return the extension plates and the end wall to normal positions.

Fig. 7 shows an extension plate 30 provided with an offset portion 3l to which the end wall 32 is attached. v

Fig. 8 shows an extension plate 35 having an inclined portion 36 and a ange 31 to which the 50 end wall 33 is secured.

Fig. 9 shows anextension plate 4i) having an inclined portion 4I and an outwardly projecting flange 42 to which the end wall 43 is'attached.

Fig. 10 shows an extension plate 45 having an 55 inwardly projecting corrugation 46 merging into an outwardly projecting part 41 to which the end wall 48 is attached. The end wall has a ange 49 to protect the joint.

Fig. 11 shows an extension wall 5U having an inwardly (5I) and outwardly (52) corrugation merging into a part 53 to which the ange 54 of the end wall 55 is attached.

I have described the corrugations as extending horizontally but the corrugations may extend vertically and be flexibly attached to the horizontally extending frame members (sill and plate of the car)l and come Within the scope of the invention.

In my copending application I have disclosed and claimed a modification of the structure claimed herein wherein the corrugations in the end wall sheet extend to the edges of the sheet, thus necessitating a different means of attachment of the corrugated end wall to the flexible extension member.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts and a side wall secured to each post in combination with a iiexible extension plate secured to each side wall and having a portion extending therebeyond, and a metallic end wall sheet extending between and secured to said portions of the extension plates, said sheet formed with a plurality of corrugations which merge into the sheet adjacent said portions the relationship and connection between the iiexible extension plate and end wall sheet being such that when the corrugated end sheet deflects under load the corner posts will not be distorted.

2. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts, an upper chord and a lower chord and a side wall secured to each post in combination with a exible extension plate secured to each side wall and having a portion extending therebeyond, said plate extending between and secured to the upper and lower chords, and a metallic sheet extending between and secured to said portions of the extension plates and also to said upper and lower chords, said sheet formed with a plurality of corrugations which merge into the sheet adjacent said portions the relationship and connection between the flexible extension plate and end Wall sheet being such that when the corrugated end sheet deflects under load the corner posts will not be distorted.

3. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts, and a side wall secured to each post in combination with a exible extension plate secured to each side wall and having a portion extending therebeyond, each of said portions being formed with an embossment parallel with the post, and a metallic sheet end wall extending between and secured to said portions of the extension plates, said sheet formed with a plurality of corrugations which merge into the sheet adjacent said portions the relationship and connection between the Iiexible extension plate and end wall sheet being such that when the corrugated end sheet deflects under load the corner posts will not be distorted.

4. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts, and a side Wall secured to each post in combination with a iiexible extension plate secured to each side wall and having a portion extending therebeyond, each of said portions being formed with an embossment parallel with the post which merges into the plate adjacent the upper and lower margins of the extension plate, and a metallic end wall extending between and secured to said portions of the extension plates, said sheet formed with a plurality of corrugations which merge into the sheet adjacent said portions the relationship and connection between the iiexible extension plate and end wall sheet being such that when the corrugated end sheet deects under load the corner posts will not be distorted.

GARTH G. GILPIN. 

